Conservation News Protecting Open Space on Long Island’S North Shore
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Conservation News Protecting Open Space on Long Island’s North Shore Board of Trustees Volume 8, Issue 16 Carter Bales, Chair Hal Davidson, Vice-Chair Luis Rinaldini, Vice-Chair Rosemary Bourne, Treasurer Hollis Russell, Secretary Elizabeth Ainslie Peter Bartley John Bralower Matthew Bruderman Gib Chapman Augusta Donohue Nancy Douzinas George Eberle Max Geddes Leland Hairr Hoyle Jones Nancy Kelley Warren Kraft Tom Lieber Bridget Macaskill Tom McGrath Clarence Michalis Jonathan Moore Judy Murray Patsy Randolph Julie Rinaldini Larry Schmidlapp Ray Schuville Frank Segarra Hope Smith Zach Taylor Paula Weir ExxonMobil Donates Cold Spring Harbor Peri Wenz Tom Zoller Terminal Site to the Land Alliance Trustee Emeritus Danny Davison We are pleased to announce that ExxonMobil has chosen to donate the remediated Cold Advisory Board Spring Harbor terminal site to the North Shore Land Alliance for conservation purposes. Myron Blumenfeld ExxonMobil is to be commended for choosing conservation as an innovative means of Ann Cannell Judith Chapman disposing of this inactive surplus property rather than the more intense alternative of Katusha Davison selling for development. The Land Alliance plans to restore the property to its natural Mark Fasciano Louise Harrison state as a native grassland and bird habitat. Our intent, over the next few years, is to work Erik Kulleseid with the local community, the Town of Huntington and the Department of Environmental Neal Lewis Robert Mackay Conservation to come up with a plan that enhances quality of life in this fragile coastal Sarah Meyland area. Barry Osborn Peter Schiff John Turner This property transfer may be the first of its kind in New York State and the first of what Richard Weir it is hoped will be many across the country. ExxonMobil has used this transaction as the Staff prototype for a new method of property disposition for large corporate property owners. Lisa Ott, President Beth Baldwin, Assoc. Director It is their hope that other corporations will follow their lead. Jane Jackson, Assoc. Director Carol Schmidlapp, Assoc. Director Mimi DeSena, Finance Mgr. Andrea Millwood, Off. Mgr./Dev. Assoc. (Continued on pg. 3 Dear Neighbors and Friends, As Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts continue across Long Island, our thoughts are with all of you who have suffered significant losses. Sandy’s battering of the Northeast provided a preview of what could be a scary future for U.S. coastal communities and particularly for Long Island—a future increasingly marred by frequent storms, fierce winds, massive flooding, shore erosion, and extensive physical damage to our homes and to our livelihoods. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s oceans have risen on average by about 7 inches since 1900. The rise has been even higher along the East Coast: a report by the New York State Sea Level Rise Task Force said sea levels along New York’s coast have increased between 9 and 11 inches over the past century. Earlier this year, the U.S. Geological Survey predicted the world’s oceans would rise between 2.0 and 5.9 feet by 2100, plus another 4.9 feet during violent storms. Why is this important? Kathryn Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech University, cited three reasons why climate change exacerbated superstorm Sandy: • Higher sea surface temperatures from warming provided more energy for Sandy—with about 15 percent of the temperature increase attributed to climate change. • Record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this year may have steered Sandy toward the coast. • Higher sea levels made the storm surge more severe. Is this the “new normal” many are referring to? Whether it is or not, it is an issue that has already impacted every resident of the North Shore. And it is an issue that deserves our serious attention to consider and support an effective solution based on sound science. Our friends at The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, the Open Space Institute and others agree that land conservation is an important part of the solution. Here are three significant actions that would help to protect our community: 1. We must make wetlands protection a priority. Wetlands can slow waves, slow erosion and reduce storm surges to protect upland areas from erosion and flooding. 2. We must protect healthy trees and standing forests. Forests help reduce flooding by slowing water as it runs down to lower points and into over-burdened storm water systems. 3. We must use science to inform decisions about solutions and encourage policy makers to ensure that natural systems and other “soft” solutions are as much a part of future plans as the “built” infrastructure. If there is anything positive from Superstorm Sandy, it is a call to action for Long Island residents, elected officials and our community of intelligent, informed not-for-profit organizations to come together around a set of actions that can help protect us against the fury of future storms. The future of Long Island depends on it. You should know that the North Shore Land Alliance intends to be a positive, contributing part of that solution. With best wishes to you and your family for a joyous holiday season. Carter F. Bales 2 Conservation News Fall/Winter 2012 ExxonMobil Donation environmental experts to conduct further testing and review Exxon’s findings. Our experts confirmed that, indeed, a full remediation had taken place. On Friday, November 9, 2012 the final documents were signed and the transfer of the property became official. As a further layer of protection, ExxonMobil donated a conservation easement over the entire property to the Peconic Land Trust. ExxonMobil felt that this double layer of protection is ideal for achieving its conservation purposes in perpetuity. (Continued from pg.1) The importance of permanent conservation of shoreline The Cold Spring Harbor site, which was the former Mobil properties, like this Cold Spring Harbor site, couldn’t Oil fuel terminal, provides significant conservation be more evident in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The values to not only the natural upland habitat but also Northeast’s over-developed coastal communities suffered to Cold Spring Harbor, a New York State Significant catastrophic results because there was no natural barrier Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat. These habitats left between them and this powerful super storm. The are known to provide maritime beach bird nesting upcoming restoration of the ExxonMobil site will be a habitat and waterfowl wintering areas as well as highly valuable example of how preservation of undeveloped productive nursery and feeding areas for marine finfish natural areas can alleviate impacts of sea level rise. and shellfish. Such preservation is critical along with the increasing turbulence and number of storms climate change is The Land Alliance has been closely monitoring the delivering and their resulting toll on our shorelines. remediation work, beginning with the tanks coming down in 2004. During this time we witnessed the completion of the remediation work for years, the required monitoring stage to evaluate the effectiveness of prior efforts and the start of site preparation for environmental restoration. You may have noticed, if you’ve driven by the site along Shore Road recently, that some of the tall native grasses planted by ExxonMobil have begun to take hold. While the Land Alliance has been in discussion with ExxonMobil for several years, it was during the remediation time period and following the issuance of a ‘no further action’ letter by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 2011 that ExxonMobil made their final decision to donate the property to the Land Alliance for conservation purposes. Prior to accepting the property, the Land Alliance hired Purple Lovegrass is one of the species suggested for planting at the site. Conservation News Fall/Winter 2012 3 In order to demonstrate to ExxonMobil our intended use for the site, the Land Alliance hired local environmental consultants, EEA Inc. (now GEI Consultants) to develop a draft restoration plan. The plan, nearly complete, includes a variety of local natural communities that are, in some cases, showing a degree of rarity or peril. Maritime grassland will cover approximately half of the five terrestrial acres and feature a variety of native grasses and other plants. Tall grassland and wet meadow communities will round out the upper part of the property, while maritime shrubland and red cedar will buffer the beach and restored salt marsh at the water’s edge. These communities will attract a variety of birds, butterflies and other wildlife, including a number of rare or protected species. A nature trail will meander through the preserve, which may also feature a bird blind from which to quietly observe birds at the wet meadow and an osprey platform on the spit that forms a tiny inlet alongside the mainland. Interpretive signage will inform visitors about Long Island natural history, sea level rise and other topics. The Land Alliance will begin to organize meetings with the local community in the Spring of 2013 to ask for input on the draft restoration plan. While consultants will be needed for much of the restoration, we will also be relying on volunteers to help with some aspects of the project including planting, removing and monitoring for invasive plants and conducting biological surveys. We hope you will take part! Watch our Walks in the Woods calendar for upcoming programs onsite, including our community celebration on April 27, 2013 at 1:00 pm. 4 Conservation News Fall/Winter 2012 Williams Property Update A Community Comes Together to Purchase Option to Protect Important 31-acre Property The North Shore Land Alliance is proud to announce that after swift community action and support we were able to purchase an option to buy 31 acres of property from the Estate of Priscilla DeForest Williams! This property, prominently located on Shore Road, Cold Spring Harbor, is emblematic on the North Shore of Long Island.